Slippery bows and slow circuits

Abstract

This article is based on a keynote lecture given at the 51st International Musicological Colloquium, Masaryk University, Brno, that was part lecture, part performance. The lecture was presented in the style of a series of statements with performance elements, of which the order was improvised. In response to the conference call and with reference to DIY electronic music, the article covers the topics of: the relationship between music and technology; what could be considered as post-technological music; technologically generated, supported, or mediated music; and issues arising that relate to virtuosity. The article also discusses the impact of neo-Luddism and the Slow Movement on music technology and Nam June Paik's declaration 'I make technology ridiculous'. Examples of work by the author (Dirty Electronics), Gijs Gieskes, John Bowers, and Leonardo Ulian are also discussed.

Keywords

• DIY electronic music
• instrument
• music technology
• slow technology
• oblique strategies
• post-optimal